“So you are not sure whether or not you believe that heaven and hell are real places. OK. Try this. Do you believe that America and North Korea are real places? Start with what you can see. God will help you to believe in what you cannot see.
If you want to get a small glimpse of the immeasurable difference between heaven and hell, just compare America to North Korea. One nation was founded largely upon the Bible and Christian principles. America is a free land, and we owe our freedom to Jesus Christ. The other nation is held captive to satanic control, and it has produced hell on earth for those who dwell there.
Camp 14 in North Korea is believed to hold 150,000 people doing hard labor while barely existing on the brink of starvation. It is a modern-day concentration camp. If you dare to question the North Korean government, you can be sent to that camp for the rest of your life. It is like hell on earth for those who dwell there.
Shin Dong-hyuk was born in that camp, and he escaped in 2005 at the age of 23. Shin was brainwashed to believe that life was only about obeying the prison rules. He actually witnessed his mother and his brother being killed right in front of him. Shin was so empty of any love that he admits he felt no sadness watching his mother and brother die. He felt they were getting what they deserved. After all, they had broken the prison rules.
Shin stated in recent years that he was actually the one to turn in his mother and brother to the authorities. At the time, he felt it might get him some preferential treatment.
That is a picture of what Satan gives a person.
No empathy. No love. No compassion. Shin, like the rest of his family, was a victim of cruel leaders and a spiritual adversary who has worked hard to turn North Korea into a living hell, and people into zombie-like robots.
There is another hell, which is also “living.” It is a place of eternal existence. And there is a real heaven, and its residents will never leave that place. America is not paradise to be sure, but it is a far cry from North Korea. The Gospel of Jesus Christ produces freedom in hearts and in nations. Satan produces hatred, control, and the killing of innocent people.
If you are someone who doubts the existence of heaven and hell, just compare America to North Korea. Who would have guessed that a world which God created could end up with such opposite experiences? One is free, and one is under cruel control. One allows people to live in happiness, and the other forces people to live in constant fear. One is an earthly portrait of heaven in a way, while the other is an earthly portrait of hell. The actual heaven and hell are just as real, and far more extreme in terms of the joy and the pain which people experience in those eternal destinations.
Shin escaped from Camp 14 and from North Korea. No one will escape from hell. At the same time, no one will ever want to leave heaven. Just because you have never been to North Korea does not mean it doesn’t exist. The same thing is true about heaven and hell. If you can trust a YouTube video showing North Korea, how much more can you trust God’s Word as it tells you about heaven and hell?
Start with what you can see. God will help you to believe what you cannot see.”
Delight in Truth 
Great post.
I have seen this picture before, Delight, and heaven and hell are a good comparison. I have also seen an interview with the young man who escaped camp 14; a miracle no doubt. North Korea now has a youngster at the helm that we know very little of. It will be interesting to see how things develop in the next few years. I don’t know if it is true, but I’ve heard that North Korean scientists are helping Iranian scientists develop powerful weapons…Two peas in a hell pod. (Yet, we should be praying for both.)
God’s blessings…
Yes, you are so right… I have seen the interview with him as well, and also undercover video from those camps. Absolutely horrifying conditions to live in. I am certain that very few live past 40 years old in such conditions… The worst part was when he said that he “told” on his family in order to follow the rules and to gain an advantage. So sad what this regime has done, and we seem powerless to do anything meaningful about it… Except pray to God that He would break the satanic stronghold in that place
Amen.